Broadway Revival of Sweet Bird of Youth Delayed; James Franco No Longer Involved

James Franco will no longer play Chance Wayne in 'Sweet Bird of Youth.'

A previously announced revival of Tennessee Williams’ Sweet Bird of Youth will not be mounted in fall 2011, according to The New York Times, which reports that James Franco is no longer linked to the show. In January, the Oscar-nominated actor had told reporters that he planned to make his Broadway debut as gigolo Chance Wayne opposite Nicole Kidman as aging actress Alexandra del Lago. Kidman’s spokesperson did not respond to requests from the Times for comment.

Director David Cromer confirmed to the Times that Sweet Bird has been delayed to an unspecified future date, explaining that lead producer Scott Rudin is instead concentrating on a forthcoming revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Linda Emond and rising movie star Andrew Garfield. Rudin worked with Kidman on her 1998 Broadway debut performance in The Blue Room as well as her Oscar-winning turn in The Hours.

After winning acclaim for his off-Broadway production of Our Town, Cromer has not had great luck on Broadway: His 2009 revival of Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs closed quickly, and his starry 2011 remounting of John Guare’s The House of Blue Leaves (produced by Rudin) also shuttered early after receiving only one Tony nomination for Edie Falco’s performance.